Breaking the Ice
by Amorous-Thunder
Summary: Green was prepared to live the rest of his life with an unrequited love for Red. But when he finally gets too close and loses his control, he accidentally kisses him, causing his whole life to spiral down before him. Red seems intrigued, but the interesting truth is that Green never really wanted to date Red in the first place! Originalshipping. Summary may change over time.
1. To Climb

**Yeah, here I am with another story. I probably shouldn't make a habit of starting new stories before I finish old ones, but... oh well. Everyone has their bad habits, I suppose. I've been meaning to write about this pairing for a really long time now.**

**A very special thanks goes out to _The Light's Refrain_ for beta-reading this for me. She helped out a lot. :3**

**Disclaimer: I know this is hard to believe, guys, but I don't own Pokémon.**

**And, oh yeah, the italics are in first person. First person will always be Green. Regular print is in third. I had to have some way to differentiate between the two so it wouldn't get confusing. D:**

* * *

Breaking the Ice

_Chapter One_

Had she known she was going to lose she never would have challenged him to begin with. She had heard stories of Mt. Silver, legends that were regarded as myths. One such tale was _Red:_ a mysterious yet powerful trainer who resided at the peak of the mountain, willing to battle any trainer who deemed himself worthy enough to make it to the summit.

But she never would have imagined that that tale would end up to be true...

And there the legend stood, red eyes emphasized by the white climate surrounding him, his arm extended as he withdrew one of the only two pokémon he had used to its poké ball. He said nothing, his arm falling flat to his side.

The battle was over. She had lost.

She fell to her knees, holding close her most prized pokémon: Venusaur. But even it was almost meaningless to her now...

* * *

_Planting my feet in the snow, I gazed up at the mountain, trying to recall just how many times I climbed up it. I knew the answer was trivial but it was just one of the many thoughts I couldn't resist wondering about..._

_In many ways could the mountain be compared to _him_. 1) The mountain won't budge, and no matter how many times I try, he won't come down from it either. 2) It's quiet. Rarely ever does it make a sound (with the few exceptions being a rock that falls or a nearby pokémon's cry). He's just as quiet. 3) The top of the mountain is far from reach. He's definitely far from reach, all right. Even to this day he won't give me much of a response. Granted, it's better than it used to be. Hell, he and the mountain are practically metaphorical to one another!_

_One step after another, I made my way up the mountain. Who knows how many times I did it, but what did it matter now? I was used to it. The weather was cold but I was used to that as well. Over my shoulder I carried a sack of food. I probably looked like freaking Santa Claus right now but I didn't care. The only thing I was remotely concerned about right now was Eevee. I wanted so badly to have it by my side but I knew the brutal weather would probably be too much for the small creature to handle..._

_I'm pretty close with Eevee. It could probably evolve into an umbreon or espeon right now but I won't let it. I didn't want it to evolve. There were just too many memories attached to it. I know it sounds sentimental and all, and people don't really think of me as the sentimental type, but that's honestly how I feel. I don't want it to change. I made a necklace out of an everstone and put it around its neck just so it wouldn't be able to evolve. I think it's safe to say now that it won't._

_Speaking of relationships, I never thought people understood me well. I've had a few friends, they've come and went, and not even _one_ have I felt a deep connection with. Sometimes I wonder if it may be because I'm too different from other people. Other times I wonder if such a connection is even possible. But most frequently I wonder if I really give a damn. Even if I don't connect very well with people there's still that one person I would give the whole world to, and that's _him_._

_Okay, well, that probably sounds extremely cheesy, but it's the truth. Or at least that's what I think. I've harbored feelings for _him_ ever since we were teenagers, and never until now have I started to question these feelings. I still have to second-guess myself. I still have to deny it from time to time. Believe me when I say I'm still not quite sure what love is. But I think it's _him_. It's hard to tell when he never speaks..._

_I was almost to the top now. I could see the cave entrance nearing in the distance. I shielded my face from the oncoming blizzard. I started to cough violently into my arm._

_It was probably around my 89th time. Climbing up here, I mean. I've visited the peak of this mountain for over four years now. I used to visit it every two months, then every few weeks, and now almost everyday. The reason I visit so occasionally now is because I can't trust _him_ anymore. One minute he's doing fine, and then the next he's lying on the floor with his pikachu nudging him relentlessly. It's absolutely ridiculous. You've never seen a guy who could suck so much at taking care of himself. This is why he pisses me off so much. If I wasn't there I swear he'd already be dead by now..._

_I know I say that, but sometimes I can hardly take care of _myself_. I'm not kidding either. Some days I'll just get up and look in the mirror and say "screw it." _It's just another day_, I'll think to myself. But more often than not I'll just force myself to brush my teeth or take a shower or run a comb through my hair. When it comes right down to it, you just gotta do these things no matter how you feel._

_I held onto my green scarf so it wouldn't blow away as I trekked the last bit of my journey. I've lost dozen of scarfs before, climbing up this mountain, and I wasn't prepared to lose another. There was a cave entrance before me and I hesitated a little upon entering it. "I come bearing food," I said as I scanned the surrounding area in search of _him_._

_He was here. He was kneeling down beside his venusaur patching up a couple of its wounds. I didn't know why Venusaur was injured but my best guess was that Red got into another fight. Another challenger must have challenged him to a battle. The usual. Most people reach the summit without even knowing what's up here and they get a huge surprise. Others hear myths of this so-called Red who is said to be such an almighty trainer and come up here to witness it for themselves. They lose. Big time._

_I grabbed a water bottle from the bag I brought and went to go sit next to him on the ground. "I can't stay for long. The gym opens up at nine." I set the bag down beside me._

_I thought he muttered something like, "That's fine," but I must have been mistaking._

_I handed out to him a pack of these things known as "teddy gums" that he loved so much. They were these gummies that were shaped like teddiursas, each one varying in color. "I brought you your favorite food," I said, and he nodded and took them from me._

_I took a sip of water, then put in down on the ground next to my foot. "They talked about you in town today. Apparently some girl climbed to the peak of Mt. Silver and found and battled a mysterious-looking trainer. I take it that was you?"_

_He said nothing._

_"Did you win?"_

_"Does it matter?" he finally said._

_"It wouldn't kill you to answer the question, you know..."_

_He evened out a bandage around Venusaur's nose and jaw, then sprayed a potion between its eyes and it flinched._

_"You're a real chatty gossiper, you know that?"_

_He ignored me and continued to fix Venusaur up. I looked around and found Snorlax all patched up as well. The weirdest thing is, is that even though he can't properly care for himself, he can still care for his pokémon. He does a pretty good job at it too, mind you. I don't know how he does it but he does. He even tends to feed them better than he does himself, which I have a hard time believing since he loves food so much. He's nearly starved himself to death before just for the sole sake of his pokémon. It's really childish, I know. I've tried telling him that if he doesn't take better care of himself, then how are his pokémon suppose to survive when he's gone? They'll end up dying as well. The best response he could come up with was, "It's all I can do," which more than just a little ticked me off, but I didn't return with anything._

_"Have you been eating well?" I asked. I ask him this every time I come here._

_"Yeah," was all he could bring himself to say._

_"What about bathing? How long has it been since your last shower?"_

_"I don't take showers," he said, implying that he takes baths instead. He likes to get smart with me._

_"Whatever. You know what I mean."_

_"I'm doing fine."_

_I took a moment to inspect what he was wearing: a short-sleeved jacket, some pants, a hat... As usual, he wasn't dressed for the weather—but it wasn't like the weather ever changes much around here anyway. It was always cold. His appearance alone could tell you that. His skin was as pale as a blank sheet of paper; it was obvious that he hadn't seen sunlight in years..._

_"At least put a blanket on, for crissakes." I got up and draped a blanket over his shoulders. "Here." I made sure to cover all that I could around him, except his head and legs. "Use it," I told him sternly. He hunched over and pulled the blanket tighter around himself, as if he just discovered that he was, in fact, cold._

_I sat back down, complaining with, "Jeez, I feel like your damn mother..."_

_He didn't say anything._

_I had to keep the conversation going (or what was left of it anyway). "Speaking of which, she presumes you're dead, you know—your mother. It's a real shame."_

_It was a horrible choice of words, what I just said. But at least maybe now he'll consider coming back home where he belongs. His mother didn't even presume that he was dead, rather that she was actually still clutching onto the hope that he'd return home someday. The poor woman—I feel sorry for her. I know how she feels. Everyone in town does. We're all worried about Red. The only difference in my case is that I get to see him every so often. If others knew about that, I wonder how they would feel... They would probably begrudge me for keeping his location a secret for so long._

_I kept watching Red to see if he would make any sort of relative response—but he didn't. The most he did was stop what he was doing for a moment to adjust his hat, then looked in a different direction because I guess he may have heard a noise or something... But I wasn't concerned. He does these sorts of things often, out of old habit. I think he might be paranoid that he'll receive an uninvited guest, and I guess I would be, too, if I lived atop a mountain._

_I sighed. "But I guess you don't want to hear about that, do you?" I asked. I didn't expect an answer. There comes a point in life where you stop expecting so much everything, especially certain people. If you don't come to understand that, you'll get hurt. You most certainly will._

_"Whatever," I said, after he gave me nothing in return. I stood up, stretching. "Are you sure you'll be all right by yourself?" I ask him this every time I leave, too. I probably sound like a broken record every time I come here. I don't know why I still bother when I know he'll just respond the same way as always._

_"I'll be fine," he said. He didn't bother to look at me. I was expecting as much._

_"Do you want me to come by again later?"_

_"I don't care."_

_I turned around and exited the cave._

Yeah_, _I didn't think you would_, I thought to myself._

* * *

Red gazed down restlessly at the world beneath him. On clear days he could distinguish the few trees that would ordinarily be hidden by the clouds. Most days, however, he saw nothing. Mountains don't always give you the view that you want—that was one of the few things that Red has come to learn in the many years spent living on Mt. Silver.

From the corner of his eye Red saw Pikachu shift around on his shoulder. It growled, seemingly distracted by something, but Red didn't know _what._ The electricity that was stored in its pouch-like cheeks started to shoot out in an array of sparks. Red knew this behavior to only occur whenever it sensed danger, so did that mean they were in some kind of trouble? Red turned around to witness it for himself.

A boy with golden eyes and a hat stood not too far from Red on the edge of the cliff, but not nearly as close to the edge as what Red was. He had a look of determination in his eyes—a look that Red wasn't so used to—as he asked, "Are you the legendary trainer they call Red?" He held a poké ball out before himself in a justifying manner and smirked. "I've been looking for you... I challenge you to a pokémon battle!"


	2. To Battle

**Sorry for the wait, guys. For the longest time I was torn about whether or not to cut the battle out between Red/Gold or to leave it in. I really wanted to write the battle but at the same time I didn't want to bore any readers, as this _is_ a romance after all (and not an action). In the end I just wrote the battle out anyway, because let's face it: one does not simply skip a Red/Gold battle. **

**On another note... I figure it's about time I came clean. I've only ever read the first few chapters of the Pokémon Adventures manga, so I only have a general idea of what Gold's character is like. I hope you'll all pardon any of his OOC-ness. I know I could've just stuck with Ethan, but I wanted to keep the character's names color-oriented. I also wanted to use the names of Gold's pokémon in this fic because I think it gives him more character.**

**There's more. After researching the attacks in which Gold's pokémon use I have found out that Serebii has made an error. It states that Gold's mantine knows Ominous Wind, when, in fact, Mantine can't learn that move at all. Despite that, I still made Gold's mantine use Ominuous Wind in this chapter anyway. Even if Mantine can't learn the move it still sounds like it very well should. I've made other changes as well, but they're all very minor.**

* * *

_Chapter Two_

_You never could walk into my hometown without being instantly greeted by one of its residents. If you walked into the café a little ways west the people there would chat you up in a storm. It didn't matter who you were, whether they knew you or not, they were just friendly people. That's just the way Pallet is. It's a quaint little town—probably among the smallest I know__—and although I prefer the city over most towns, I can't deny that I love it there._

___For me, though, it wasn't always so friendly. About right after Red had defeated me for the title of Champion at the League, I returned to Pallet and told my sister of my loss. She told me she and the whole rest of the town already knew about it, though. She said she heard it from Grandpa and that he was spreading the news of Red's victory all around town like a madman._ That fucking bastard,___ I thought. I remember spending the rest of the evening in my room that day. I just laid in bed with a pillow over my face. I do that a lot when I get frustrated. Turns out I didn't come out for three whole days. I was a real mess._

___When I finally_ did _come out, though, I was still depressed as fuck, but not as bad as I had been. I decided to go to the __café and get a cup of coffee____—to see if that would wake me up a little. Next thing I know is that I'm a suspected murderer and everybody in the goddamn room is eyeing me like I'm gonna pull out a gun and shoot them all. It didn't take me long to figure out why, either. Nobody knew how to confront me after I lost to Red. How could they cheer for Red when I lost? It was wrong. To this day I still haven't been able to talk to them much..._

_______It was a little more than a week later that my asshole-of-a-granddad decided to talk to me for the first time since I got there. He called me over to his lab to discuss some "important" matter with me. I thought that maybe he was going to talk about what happened at the Indigo Plateau____—perhaps even apologize for the embarrassment he had caused me around town... Or at least I hoped that he would. He didn't. He said something about the Sevii Islands and how he would like me to go to see if I could gather some information on a prehistoric pokémon he believed to have lived there. I should've said "no," but I didn't. I went because I needed to get away again________—to clear my head. Besides, I didn't have anything better to do. So I went.____  
_

___________________Two months after I got back from the Sevii Islands I became the leader of the Viridian City Gym. Don't ask me how I got the position. ____________________I got a phone call from Lance (Kanto's and Johto's champ at the time since Red had subsequently refused to accept the title after he had defeated me) one fine morning, telling me that I was the new leader of the gym. I still don't know how that qualifies me as Gym Leader... Nonetheless, I didn't have a choice in the matter. He practically bribed me into taking the position (probably because he didn't know of anyone else to turn to, and somebody _had _______________________________________to fill in the spot). I didn't really want to; I wasn't too interested in battling anymore... But I understood the situation, so I agreed._

_______________________________________That was five years ago._

_______________________________________I never resented Red for taking my title at the Indigo Plateau, even if my title was short-lived, and even if he had left the title as soon as he got it. I figured that was because I had already matured much since then. I'm not really sure. Then again, it might have been because of what he said after I lost. I can't remember exactly, but I think he said something along the lines of him not knowing what he _truly_______________________________________ wanted, ________________________________________all except that he knew that it wasn't "this" (whatever "this" is. I assumed that it meant "fame" at the time. He never specifies what he's talking about. He does that a lot, as if the whole world is going to know what he's talking about when he starts the conversation with "he," "she," or "it"). He then went on to explain that maybe he just wanted the satisfaction in knowing that he could beat me. I told him that that didn't make any sense since he had beaten me on multiple accounts. He said, "But it never seemed official. Until now."_

_______________________________________________________________________________That was the first time Red had ever said more than one sentence at a time to me. He eventually told me about how he was going to go to Mt. Silver and that if I wanted a rematch I could find him there. Said not to tell anybody else where he was going________________________________________—to promise him that. It still makes my heart race to remember those words________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________—to think that I was the only one he entrusted his location to. I guess in a way it makes me feel sort of special..._

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Before he left I followed him into the fourth room of the Elite Four where he patted (or more like brushed) his hand on Lance's back as proceeded onto the third, telling him, "You're in charge now, Champ." Lance's expression carved into confusion as he watched him go, then he looked back at me with the same expression plastered on his face. I couldn't pronounce anything more than, "I... I lost." _

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I thought that was the last time I was going to see Red. I was wrong. I kept his words in my memory________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________—_about how he was going to go to Mt. Silver. I thought about that a year later. Then I decided. I was going to climb Mt. Silver to see him again. I didn't even want a challenge; I just wanted to know how he was doing... I didn't know what spurred that idea. I still don't.

* * *

"Mantaro, I choose you!" The boy sent out his pokémon, which was a mantine, with utmost ease.

Red remained indifferent to the show—his customary way of dealing with things. Pikachu launched off his shoulder and onto the ground, preparing itself for combat. Its expression changed, unlike its trainer, to a more "bring-it-on" kind of look.

Everything was in check for the battle to begin.

"Mantaro, use Ominous Wind!" the boy commanded, letting loose the first blow to the opposing team. A purplish gust of wind trampled over Pikachu's small frame, nearly knocking it a step back. It managed to resist the harsh attack, however, its paws clenched shut against its chest, its eyes squinted.

It was Red's turn to attack now. Pikachu fired a thunderbolt at Mantaro (and the boy noted how strange it was that its trainer had never ordered it to use that attack in the first place). Mantaro came crashing down in no time at all, clearly defeated already. If it weren't for Mantine's extreme weakness for electrical attacks, the boy would've said that he was almost impressed with how easily Red and Pikachu had wiped out his first pokémon. (Or was it just Pikachu alone?)

"Holy crap!" Even though that was to be expected, the boy still acted genuinely surprised. It was a cover-up. His plan was to disguise himself as an inexperienced trainer so that Red would let his guard down (but he doubted that he would fall for the trick). He reached around the side of his belt to pluck off another one his poké balls and threw it to the ground. "Suntaro, come on out!"

"Sunflora-ora!" cried the newly released pokémon. It was a sunflora.

A yellowish field of electricity engulfed Pikachu's whole body as it charged into the foe at lightning speed. Sunflora scooted back upon impact, its arms, composed entirely of leaves, swept over its face like a giant shield.

"Forget about attacks!" the boy ordered. "We need to get rid of this hailstorm! Use Sunny Day!"

Sunflora did as its trainer commanded: a bright sunlight leaked out from underneath the dark-grey clouds—and soon the whole mountains were blanketed in a warm light rather than a dreadful cold.

_So much for looking inexperienced..._ the boy thought.

Another electrical field wrapped around Pikachu as it crashed, again, into its opponent. Sunflora seemed unfazed, but Pikachu was starting to wheeze, its own attacks having hurt it.

"Growth!" the boy ordered, and Sunflora immediately grew in size.

Pikachu repeated its previous attack for the third time.

_Jeez, volt tackle again? How much can it take? _the boy thought.

"Solarbeam!"

Pikachu leaped into the air and Sunflora tossed its head from side to side in a panic, as it seemed that Pikachu had vanished all-too-quickly for it to notice. Sunflora eventually caught sight of Pikachu falling from the sky, however, with its tail cloaked in an iron-like material, headed straight for it. The boy ordered for another Solarbeam attack, but by that point it was already too late—the iron-like material in which Pikachu's tail was covered in cast an immense glare from the sunlight, so much that it blinded the grass-type pokémon temporarily, and Pikachu's iron-coated tail landed atop Sunflora's head with a heavy hit. Sunflora fainted to the ground.

The boy returned his pokémon to its poké ball. "Clever..." he said under his breath. He thought for a moment before he sent out Aipom as his next pokémon.

Oddly enough, Red switched his pokémon over to Snorlax, and Pikachu came running back to reclaim its place on his shoulder. He did it all without saying a word.

"Agility, now!"

Several identical-looking aipoms separated from the original to create a team, and they all came running forth to meet with Snorlax on the other half of the cliff. Snorlax merely scratch its belly and yawned, not the least bit concerned or worried.

"Double Hit, Aitaro!"

Aipom hit Snorlax one, two, three times with its tail, with none of which seeming very effective...

"Keep at it!"

Repetitively, Aipom kept lashing at Snorlax over and over.

The boy saw an ice crystal fall down from the sky. _Uh-oh... The hail's back..._ He directed his attention back on the battle and saw Snorlax tensing up. Maybe it _was_ getting hurt, after all? But it wasn't. It was actually focusing all its power on its next attack. The boy found that out a little too late, he knew, with his eyes growing wide as he hurriedly told Aitaro to get out of the way. Aitaro dashed to get away as far as possible, but its tail had hung too far behind and Snorlax grabbed onto it, preventing the pokémon's escape.

"Baton Pass!" the boy shouted out in his last attempt at survival. Aipom transformed, its entire structure now a baton, rendering Snorlax's attack useless.

The boy let out a sigh of relief. "Whew, that was too close..." He returned Aipom and summoned a sudowoodo in its place. "Sutaro, use Focus Punch and end this!"

Sudowoodo drew its arm back waited, concentrating all of its energy into its arm—and for the first time during the battle Red's expression changed, his eyes narrowing slightly as he knew he could do nothing more than wait. What _could_ he do? His Snorlax was still recharging from Giga Impact. He knew he would just have to accept his fate.

Sudowoodo unleashed its stored energy and punched. Snorlax rolled over on its side, defeated. There came a brief moment where the boy glanced up to meet Red in the eyes—and he could have sworn that he was looking at him—but he wasn't. Red just proceeded to send out his next pokémon, a venusaur, which appeared with a cry.

"Use Low Kick, Sutaro!"

Sutaro swung at Venusaur with its foot. The flower on Venusaur's back emitted a white powder that rose into the air.

"Sleep Powder?" The boy grinned. "Okay, I can work with that. Dodge and use Mimic!"

Sudowoodo moved swiftly to the left—it had Aipom's agility to thank for that—and copied its opponent's move. Venusaur's eyes lidded shut; it began to snooze.

"Faint Attack, Sutaro! Over and over!"

Sutaro obeyed. It continuously hit Venusaur again and again. But it wasn't long before Venusaur woke up and whipped its vines around Sutaro's arms to cease its attacks. Sutaro was in a standstill. More vines erupted from Venusaur's flower-like back as they were hurled towards its opponent in a frantic frenzy. Both the boy's and Sutaro's eyes widened at once.

"Low kick! Now!"

Simultaneously, Venusaur and Sudowoodo were knocked-out together. They had used their last attack at the same time as the other.

The boy glanced up to Red for the second time, this time remarking, "Heh-heh-heh... Too scared to send out your next pokémon first?" He was honestly enjoying himself by this point; Red had already proven to be quite a worthy opponent, just as the boy had hoped. Red just disregarded his comment and sent out his charizard at last.

"A-A charizard too!?" The boy gaped. "Do you have a blastoise as well!?"

Red didn't answer.

"Eh... You don't talk much, do you?"

Nothing.

The boy grinned. "Alright, then... If that's how you want it..." He sent out his politoed. "Go, Politaro!"

Politaro danced around and clapped its hands.

"Politaro, Whirlpool attack!"

Charizard piloted into the sky, avoiding its foe's attack.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

"It's not cheating," Red said.

"Eh? Did you say something?"

Swooping down, Charizard straightened out and whizzed past Politaro, its left wing slicing the air, cutting close to Politaro's neck. The sudden breeze had made Politaro tumble backwards into a ball.

"Gah! Hypnosis attack!" the boy ordered. "Hit it, hit it, hit it!"

Charizard did a backwards flip into the air and charged at its target, its own body set in flames.

"Use Bounce to dodge it!"

Politaro jumped high into the air. Charizard shot upwards and tailed it.

"Hydro Pump, in yo' face!"

Red quirked an eyebrow as he watched Politaro spit a Hydro Pump attack at Charizard's face. Charizard let out a shrill cry as it immediately came crashing to the ground. It wiped at its face, trying to rid the water from its eyes.

"How'd you like that? Too unfair for you?"

Politaro landed in front of Charizard.

"Now's our chance, Politaro! Double slap!"

It slapped Charizard across the face. This lasted a while before a strong, bluish flame was hurled right back at it.

"What!? An egg move!?"

It tumbled backwards. Charizard used a Flare Blitz attack.

"Hypnosis!"

Charizard fell asleep, descending to the ground.

"Do it!"

Politaro finished Charizard off with a Hydro Pump attack.

Red sent out his lapras. There was no pause.

"What, no blastoise?" the boy asked. "Where's the fun in that?"

No response.

"Alright, I get it: no talking, right? Jeez, you're such a buzz kill..." The boy aimed a finger at the opposing team. "Okay, Politaro! Whirlpool attack!"

A giant, spinning vortex of water consumed Lapras, leaving it with nowhere to run. It looked like it hurt, but Lapras was still standing strong. It waited for its opponent's next move.

"Perish Song!"

Music flooded the area. In three turns both pokémon would faint (but the boy had more up his sleeve than just that, Red knew).

"A beautiful combo move, if I do say so myself. Now your pokémon will never escape! Muhahaha!"

"And neither will yours," Red added.

"Huh? Whaddoyamean?"

Lapras used Whirlpool.

The boy's hands flew to either side of his head out of sheer horror. "Oh, craaap! I forgot Lapras can learn Whirlpool too! Return, return, return!" He kept trying to return his pokémon to its poké ball, but failed each and every time. Red sighed.

Lapras' eyes tinted purple as Politaro was lifted from the ground almost magically. Then Politaro was slammed back down again like ice hitting steel. It struggled to its feet, only to be stopped midway by a full-sized Body Slam attack.

_If I can get rid of Lapras before Perish Song drops to zero, Politaro will be released by that persistent Whirlpool attack... Then I can save Politaro by returning it to its poké ball... I'll bet Red is thinking the same thing... I gotta save Politaro before it's too late... Luckily, Lapras is half ice-type, so..._ The boy smirked. "Use Dynamic Punch!"

Politaro managed to wiggle most of its body out from underneath Lapras to land a critical hit up and under its jaw. Lapras could see stars; it became confused. It dizzily slid off of Politaro and bashed its head against the ground. The boy gave orders for two more Dynamic Punches, but both had missed the target in session. Lapras tried to use Brine. It failed. Then it tried another Body Slam attack. It was successful. However, Perish Song had reached its limit by that point and both pokémon had fainted soon afterward.

The boy gritted his teeth. "It's up to you, Aitaro!"

Aitaro was back in battle with a new opponent to face: Blastoise. But things weren't looking so good for the smaller competitor as it held onto its wounded arm, its chest rising and falling unevenly, breathing raggedly. It seemed that Snorlax's Giga Impact hadn't been so useless after all—it must have hit Aitaro's arm just as soon as Aitaro had used Baton Pass. _Damn_, the boy thought, _t__hat's one killer of a move. If Aitaro hadn't've used Baton Pass when it did, it would've been gone for sure._

"So... you _do_ have a blastoise, eh?" the boy whispered almost to himself. It was unknown whether or not Red had heard him, given his silent response.

He knew he didn't have much of a choice left. It was either "attack with all your might" or "defend and wish for the best of luck to happen to you." It all came boiling down to either "offense" or "defense." Being the risk-taker that he was, he decided to go with "defense." He knew he had a pretty good shot at it too. At least he hoped so...

"Swagger!"

Much to the boy's dismay, the overgrown turtle had managed to evade that attack. The boy didn't think the pokémon was _that _fast. _Whatever_. What was done was done and there was no point to dwell on it now. The pokémon followed up with a Blizzard attack, and the icy temperature plummeted further at a deadly rate. The boy wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to insulate his cold, shivering body, but Red just stood there completely immobile as if he was used to such disastrous weather (and there was no doubt that he was, judging by how long he's lived up here).

The showdown consisted of numerous amounts of Flash Cannons (from Red's end) and Double Teams (from the boy's end). Some time during the middle, after Aitaro had successfully dodged all attacks thrown at it, the moves switched over to Hydro Cannon and Double Hit. The boy figured it was time to start attacking since Aitaro's evasiveness-levels had already reached so high. He was positive that nothing would be able to hit his pokémon now!

But he was wrong. Hydro Cannon had surprisingly hit when Aitaro got a little _too_ close to Blastoise. It sent Aitaro flying over the edge of the cliff and both Red and the boy went running after it.

"Aitaro!" the boy screamed. He dived, the upper-half of his body skidding partway off the cliff as he threw his arm over the side to grab his friend. He reached, but he could not grab. Was he too late? He looked down, then to his right to find Aitaro dangling over the edge—but by what? A hand? His gaze ascended to meet with Red, whose body was literally hanging halfway off the cliff. The gravity took Red's hat from his head and pulled it into the clouded abyss as he hoisted the fallen pokémon to safety.

The boy grabbed Aitaro by its shoulders. "Aitaro, are you okay?"

The pokémon nodded meekly.

"Uh..." The boy scratched the back of his neck, then shined a huge grin at Red. "Thanks. I guess we owe you one."

Red stared blankly.

"Uh... Sorry you lost your hat."

Red brought himself to his feet and made his way over to where they were battling.

"Umm—right! Let's get back to battling!" The boy went to go stand at the opposite end of Red. He now had more of a self-confident smirk on his face. "By the way," he said, "I don't know if you really care or not, but my name's Gold. Remember that name, whether it be win or lose. 'Cause if I don't defeat you today, then I sure as hell will in the future! You can count on it!"

"Sorry," Red said, monotone, "but I'm saving my defeat for someone special."

"Well, hopefully you didn't promise 'em that!" Gold said. "Aitaro, let's wrap this up! Double Hit!"

Aitaro didn't last long. Blastoise shot another Hydro Cannon, and that was it. Aitaro was out. It was another unlikely hit. Gold didn't know how Blastoise could've hit when Aitaro was so stocked-up on Double Teams... Was the level of experience really _that _different between the two, or was Blastoise just used to dealing with fast opponents like Aitaro?

Gold returned his pokémon to its poké ball. He now had only one pokémon left. _Okay, Gold, chill out, _he thought._ It's fine. It's not over until it's over, got it? You can still turn this battle around, see? Even if Blastoise's a water-type and Explotaro is... fire... _He gulped at the last word. He examined his sixth pokémon's poké ball. _You're my last hope, Explotaro... I really hope you can pull this off... _He let out his final pokémon to battle: a typhlosion. The fiery quills on its back stood on end as it surveyed its opponent.

It was risky, but Typhlosion managed to win by hiding in its own smokescreen and attacking with Flame Wheel and Eruption. Blastoise couldn't even damage it at all, though it almost did right before Typholsion landed the final strike...

Now both teams had only one pokémon left.

Red's pikachu jumped off of his shoulder and landed right in front of him. It had that same look in its eye again—the one that looked like it would stop at nothing to win this battle...

* * *

_Every Sunday my sis and I go to the café in Pallet Town. It's pretty much become a ritual. We first started going about three years ago, I think, and it all started because of my sister. She claims that she doesn't get to see me so much anymore, so now we have to have this little get-together where we sit in a booth and drink coffee across from one another while saying pretty much nothing._

_But I know the real reason why we do it. It's so that my sister can check to see if I'm holding up right—to make sure that I haven't fallen into another deep depression like I did when lost my title at the Indigo Plateau. But, seriously, she's overreacting. It's unfortunate that I lost, of course, but I'm not a little kid anymore; I can handle a loss. I run a gym after all, and I lose to challengers there all the time (but to tell the truth, I'm not really giving it my all, either)._

_I work two jobs. One as a gym leader and another as a cashier at the local poké mart in Viridian. One to feed that lying bastard living atop that damn mountain and another to feed myself. I seriously hate both my jobs, and I can't really say for sure which one I hate more. I guess it's the poké mart one because I've had this kid come up to me in the store and ask, "Hey, aren't you that guy who was champion for only three hours?" and I said, "Go die, kid." Needless to say, the kid's mother got me in trouble for saying that. I nearly lost my job... But, whatever. It was worth it._

_I held my arm out before myself and checked the time on my watch. It was 7:09. I dropped the broom I was using to sweep the floor with and closed up the gym._

* * *

**Oh, god, it took me forever to write this. Sorry to leave it off on another cliffhanger! D:**

**By the way, I have a poll on my profile regarding this story, so if you guys could cast your votes on it, that'd be great. ;D**


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